Men's City Golf Championship draws talented and deep field

A field of gifted golfers will chase this city's championship over the next three days — today at El Paso Country Club, Saturday at Painted Dunes Desert Golf Course and Sunday back at El Paso Country Club.

More than 30 of this city's top amateurs will battle stroke for stroke to claim the 73rd annual Men's City Golf Championship ... and many of them are coming in playing well.

Devin Miertschin, the former UTEP and Hanks High standout who has won this title a trio of times, had an outstanding finish two weeks ago at the prestigious Pacific Coast Amateur Tournament in Tucson.

"I really played well," said Miertschin, a UTEP graduate who is now a graduate assistant with the golf program. "Well enough to finish tied for seventh. How about that? It was just one of those weeks where everything went right. I was hitting the ball straight, I was controlling the distance with my irons and I was making putts. It was a lot of fun."

Miertschin put up rounds of 68-70-67-67 for his seventh-place tie in Tucson.

"I'm looking forward to the city championship," Miertschin said. "I'm looking forward to going out and competing and maybe some putts will drop. Playing four years at UTEP, I'm very familiar with El Paso Country Club. And I like playing Painted Dunes. It gives you some chances off the tee but in your mind there is an element of risk so it forces you to do some critical thinking.

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"Ball striking has always been one of my strong suits," Miertschin continued. "Once you see that first putt drop from 20-feet, everything just clicks and your confidence soars. That's what happened at the Pacific Coast and, hopefully, I can take that to the men's city this weekend."

Jere Pelletier has also played well this summer and few are more familiar with the El Paso Country Club layout. His father, Mark, is the director of golf at EPCC. Jere, a UTEP golfer, defended his New Mexico-West Texas Amateur title this summer and had a fine runner-up finish. He also played in the Pacific Coast Amateur, finishing 57th in the strong field of 80.

"I really am looking forward to this tournament," Pelletier said. "Finally, I get to play a couple of rounds at my home track. I've been playing a lot and playing pretty well. I played well at the New Mexico-West Texas Amateur and I took some good things from the Pacific Coast Amateur.

"But, like I said, I'm really looking forward to the Men's City," he said. "It worked out well because I played Painted Dunes several times this summer. I really like the course. It's a lot of fun and it's a great test. I'm hitting it well and, hopefully, I can make some putts."

Russell Lara, the former Burges High golfer who just finished playing at Midland College, played this course well last year in the one round of the Men's City, finished fourth in this summer's Bill Eschenbrenner and, after posting the low qualifying round at the recent Anthony Invitational, ran away with the consolation bracket.

"I've been hitting it pretty well ever since the Anthony," said Lara, who will next play for Western New Mexico. "My putting is starting to get there and putting is key on both these courses ... key anywhere, really. I like both courses. I played well at El Paso last year, except for one hole, and I feel pretty comfortable at Painted Dunes. I'm really excited for the weekend and, hopefully, I can get some putts to drop."

Of course, this is a city championship and the field is strong and a winner could come from anywhere.

Dominick Haskins, who won the Edwards-Zuloaga earlier this summer, is a contender. So is former UTEP golfer Chris Juarez, who won the recent Anthony Invitational. So is UTEP golfer Jacob Loya, who was third in this summer's Eschenbrenner. So is Evan Macias and Greg Yellen and former UTEP golfer Ryan Fioretti.

The field is talented and deep and the chase for a city championship should be a good one.